the line
by chernaya vdova
Summary: don't hold your breath. ( au based off of captain america: the winter soldier. )


**Author's Note: This AU is heavily inspired by Shorelle's art on Tumblr. I would suggest checking it out, they're amazing! I hope you enjoy this fic.**

Obi-Wan swung his lightsaber at the holographic battle droids that appeared from time to time around the space that he was occupying in the Jedi Temple's sparring arena. None of this was the most exciting way to spend a morning, but it was training that, while repetitive, was something occupying and useful to do. This was how he had spent the past few years of his life: training and running what were usually short missions for the Jedi Order. Nearly three years ago, he had lost his apprentice, a young man named Anakin Skywalker, on a mission that was to play a key part in taking down the Sith. However, as the battle neared an end, things for the Jedi took a turn for the worst. Disaster struck when Anakin's ship was shot out of the sky. The distance and magnitude of his ship's crash and fall had proved to be fatal. Obi-Wan had searched for Anakin for weeks after the battle had taken place. Despite the Sith having been destroyed, there was still a pain in the back of Obi-Wan's head and heart that had long since come with his padawan's sacrifice—with the loss of him.

Though he had started out as Obi-Wan's young student, Anakin, only in his twenties at the time of his demise, had grown to moreso become his master's equal. At the end of his short life, Obi-Wan had viewed Anakin as if he was his brother.

Obi-Wan was alone in the arena, other than the presence of a young togruta woman, he had realized a few minutes into his conditioning. As he switched off the glowing blade of his lightsaber, he glanced across the room. She had been doing the same as him—sparring—on the other far side of the space, and she had now taken a seat on one of the benches adjacent to the exit. He dropped his lightsaber into his belt loop and then ran a tired hand through auburn hair as he glanced around the room to see if he had left anything of his behind. When he reached the exit, he stopped in front of the bench where the young woman sat, offering her a friendly smile as he looked down at her seated frame. She was, indeed, young, but she had no padawan braid; Obi-Wan suspected that she may have been one of many young learners who were knighted much earlier in life than usual, during the sudden rise of the Sith a few years back. The woman before him could not have been any older than her early twenties, and even that might have been pushing it.

"Master Kenobi," she greeted, snapping him out of his observations.

He felt guilty, for a brief moment. He did not know her name, mostly because there were thousands of Jedi dispersed and stationed for different reasons across the galaxy. Obi-Wan gave her an approving nod.

"You seemed to be working hard over there."

"Thank you—I wish I could share your enthusiasm. I don't come here as often as I probably should, but Master Windu suggested that I do a little bit of time here, after I didn't do exactly what I was told to on my last mission."

He gave a quiet but knowing chuckle; her admittance to slight defiance reminded him of Anakin's personality. "I don't believe we've met—"

She held out a hand. "Ahsoka Tano."

"Ahsoka, then. Are you usually on Coruscant?" It was an easy question, simple but compelling enough to carry on a conversation.  
"Usually. At least, I have been since I worked on a major rescue mission when forces under the leadership of the Sith attacked the capital—you know, a few years back." Ahsoka paused, brows furrowing as she thought back in time. She had lost a lot of friends and colleagues during the wars that had taken place against the Sith. It had not been an easy time for anybody in the Jedi Order, and there had been lots of people who, at one point or another, had feared that the organization would entirely fall apart. There had been a time where Ahsoka had considered leaving the Jedi Order completely, but that sentiment had been left behind long ago. Her dark lips parted once more as she began to speak again. "I go offworld often enough, but there's a lot to be dealt with here, too. Protecting the republic and all of that. On top of that, my training isn't _technically_ finished—because of the war—so I do what I can around the temple...to _learn_ or whatever."

Obi-Wan smiled appreciatively at the Ahsoka's short narrative and persona. He could relate to a significant amount of everything that she had described to him in this short conversation. Since all that had happened with the Sith just a few years ago, his work, too, had been much more localized. He was about to speak once she finished, but his attention shifted as the two doors to the training arena slid open to reveal, surprisingly, two clone troopers. While surprise registered over the Togruta's features, confusion swept over the Jedi Master's thoughts as Ahsoka and himself exchanged a formal enough greeting with the clone troopers. The two men cheerfully removed their helmets and then stepped to the side to reveal the small frame of Padmé Amidala, a galactic senator and diplomatic field agent from Naboo.

"General," she acknowledged him.

"Senator," he returned. Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, wondering what exactly it was that Padmé needed, here. It was not that he minded her showing up, but it was not entirely often that she did. At this point in time, he knew the young woman well enough, at least as an asset to the republic. He knew that she was usually an incredibly practical person, and if she did need something from the himself or another Jedi, than it would have been more than likely that she sent, at the most, one of her deputies to take care of it in place of using up her own time. Padmé gave an apologetic smile and a short wave in Ahsoka's direction, before she spoke once more. "I'm sorry to show up so suddenly, but I was hoping that you would be willing to help with a short mission this evening. It shouldn't take long, a few hours at the most."

As it was his sworn job to do things for the greater interest of the republic, he hesitantly agreed. Padmé was not the most reckless person, so he doubted there would be many problems there, he just did not like to know so little about what he was getting involved in before he actually got involved. However, Padmé, though he had seen her less and less over recent years, was a good friend, and somebody who he already knew was very trustworthy. She and her close circle of colleagues within the Galactic Senate and the Royal House of Naboo had done lots of large and small scale favors for himself and other members of the Jedi Order—for _Anakin_.

He could take time today to do something for her, too.

"Of course. You'll just have to give me a few minutes to freshen up after training all morning."

She nodded understandingly. "I can meet you on the landing platform, an hour from now." A pause, as she bowed her head slightly, before looking up at him once more with a grateful smile. "Thank you, Master Jedi. I know that you will prove to be most beneficial to this mission of ours." Padmé nodded to Ahsoka, and then turned to the troopers who followed her back out of the arena.

Ahsoka raised an eyebrow, watching as the other three beings exited the room, and then turned to face Obi-Wan once more. "She seemed...important."

Obi-Wan nodded once, holding out his hand to his newfound acquaintance once more. "It was great to meet you, Ahsoka, or at least in a less formal setting. However, as I'm sure you know very well, duty calls."


End file.
